2 Days in Paris (2007)

The Eiffel Truth

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Julie Delpy's second feature film, and the first to get U.S. distribution, is an intuitive, intelligent drama about a New York couple, the American-born Jack (Adam Goldberg) and the French-born Marion (Delpy), who have dated for two years. On their way back from vacationing in Venice, they decide to stay two days with Marion's parents in Paris, where Jack begins to see a side of Marion that he never knew existed. Delpy's direction is vibrant and playful, and her dialogue has the ring of truth (she received an Oscar nomination for co-writing 2004's Before Sunset). But where the film is supposed to be funny, it's merely frantic and harsh. Jack's neuroses -- hypochondria and jealousy -- are paper-thin belonging more to a nebbish like Woody Allen than they do to the fierce, tattooed, bearded Goldberg. And Marion occasionally succumbs to hideous fits of rage that alienate rather than charm. Still, the film has enough mad, passionate moments to make it at least worth a look. A clip from Fritz Lang's M (1931) turns up in one scene.